ROME (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors have appealed a Rome
court's decision to drop a murder case against a U.S. soldier
who killed an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq, taking the
matter to the country's highest court.

"We filed the appeal," one of the prosecutors, Franco
Ionta, told Reuters, adding the process would take "months, not
weeks."

U.S. soldier Mario Lozano had been tried in absentia in
Rome for shooting Italian agent Nicola Calipari at a checkpoint
outside Baghdad airport in 2005.

Calipari, seen as a hero in Italy, had been escorting a
newly freed Italian hostage out of Iraq.

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The Rome court argued Italy did not have jurisdiction to
try Lozano -- something it said fell to the United States.
Ionta hopes the high court will overrule this decision and
order the trial go forward.

"The main motive (for the appeal) is that we think this
trial can happen in Italy," Ionta said.

Lozano, who was a gunner at the checkpoint, says he opened
fire on Calipari's car after the driver ignored warning shots
and refused to stop. The United States has exonerated Lozano
from blame, describing the killing as a "tragic accident."